nārāyaṇo’pi vikṛtiṁ yāti guroḥ pracyutasya durbuddheḥ |
kamalasya jalād apaiti raviḥ śuṣyati nāśayati ca |
(Unknown source)
“Even Nārāyaṇa becomes displeased with a foolish person who deviates from guru, just as the sun dries and destroys a lotus that comes out of water.”
The ten essential verses of Śrī Śrī Govinda-līlāmṛta
By Śrīmad Kṛṣṇa Dāsa Kavirāja Gosvāmīpāda
yāvat pāpais tu malinaṁ hṛdayaṁ tāvad eva hi |
na śāstre satya-buddhiḥ syāt sad-buddhiḥ sad-gurau tathā ||
aneka-janma-janita-puṇya-rāśi-phalaṁ mahat |
sat-saṅga-śāstra-śravaṇād eva premādi jāyate ||
(Brahma-vaivarta Purāṇa; cited in Bhakti Sandarbha: 1)
“As long as the heart is polluted by sins, conviction in the truthfulness of the śāstra and conviction in the truthfulness of a true guru does not come about. Prema and so forth, which are the ultimate result of the accumulation of merit [i.e., engagement in practices of bhakti] created over the course of many births, manifest only by hearing śāstra in the association of sādhus.”
ekākṣara-pradātāraṁ yo guruṁ nābhivandate |
śvāna-yoni-śataṁ gatvā cāṇḍāleṣv abhijāyate ||
(Cāṇakya-nīti-darpaṇa: 13.20)
“One who does not respect a guru who has taught [even] a single syllable will undergo one hundred births as a dog and then be born among cāṇḍālas.”
e saba-prasāde likhi caitanya-līlā-guṇa |
yaiche taiche likhi, kari āpana pāvana ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 3.11.10)
“By the grace of them all [i.e., by the grace of Śrī Caitanya, Śrī Nityānanda, Śrī Advaita, their bhaktas, and the six gosvāmīs in particular], I write about Caitanya’s līlā and qualities. Howsoever I write [i.e., as I write to the best of my ability, as meager and faulty as that may be], I [at least] purify myself.”
tad-vāg-visargo janatāgha-viplavo
yasmin prati-ślokam abaddhavaty api |
nāmāny anantasya yaśo’ṅkitāni yac
chṛṇvanti gāyanti gṛṇanti sādhavaḥ ||
(Śrīmad Bhāgavatam: 1.5.11; 12.12.52)
“Destructive of humanity’s sins is any composition of language in which, even if devoid of [syntactical] sense, there are names marked with [i.e., derived from descriptions of] the glories of Ananta [i.e., Bhagavān, lit., “he who is without end”] in every verse, since sādhus hear, sing, and speak [those names in the process of reciting the composition].”
prathamaṁ tu guruḥ pūjyaḥ tataś caiva mamārcanam |
kurvan siddhim avāpnoti hy anyathā niṣphalaṁ bhavet ||
(Unknown source; cited in Hari-bhakti-vilāsa: 4.344; Bhakti Sandarbha: 238)
[Bhagavān:] “By first worshipping guru and then worshipping me, one attains perfection, and otherwise, one’s worship becomes fruitless.”
gu-śabdas tv andhakārasya ru-śabdas tan-nivārakaḥ |
andhakāra-nirodhitvād gurur ity abhidhīyate ||
(Skanda Purāṇa)
“The syllable gu means darkness, and the syllable ru means its remover. A guru is so called because of his being a dispeller of darkness.”
nāma-śreṣṭhaṁ manum api śacī-putram atra svarūpaṁ
rūpaṁ tasyāgrajam uru-purīṁ māthurīṁ goṣṭha-vāṭīm |
rādhā-kuṇḍaṁ giri-varam aho rādhikā-mādhavāśāṁ
prāpto yasya prathita-kṛpayā śrī-guruṁ taṁ nato’smi ||
(Muktā-caritam)
“I offer obeisance unto śrī-guru, he by whose celebrated grace I have received the supreme name, the mantra, the Son of Śacī, Svarūpa, Rūpa, his elder brother [i.e., Sanātana], the great abode of Mathurā, Vṛndāvana, Rādhā Kuṇḍa, the best of mountains [i.e., Govardhana], and aho!, hope of [personally serving] Rādhikā and Mādhava.”
nāhi kā̐hāso virodha, nāhi kā̐hā anurodha,
sahaja vastu kari vivecana |
yadi haya rāga-dveśa, tāhā̐ haya āveśa,
sahaja vastu nā yāya likhana ||
(Caitanya-caritāmṛta: 2.2.86)
“Neither out of opposition to anyone, nor in compliance to anyone, I discuss the fundamental subject-matter. If partiality or enmity arise and absorption in them occurs, then description of the fundamental subject is not possible.”
